Classic Colonial Revival Restoration

Project Details

The morning this historic restoration project began, the demolition crew pulled up to the front door of this classic Colonial Revival manor.

What the crew didn’t know was that their neighbors, Julia and Eric, had been admiring the house while driving to and from their nearby home, and luckily, they noticed when they realized what was about to happen.

“When I realized what was about to happen, I turned around and drove to the driveway and stopped the work in progress,” she said.

For our team, it was the beginning of an ideal partnership.

“This client shared our love of old New England architecture and had his own vision for how this house should look, even if it was decayed. “This is the kind of work that gets us up in the morning. ”

That’s not to say it was an easy job. The exterior of the house was in poor condition—the roof leaked, and the roof railings were in danger of collapse. The window frames and decorative porch columns were rotted, and much of the siding was in poor condition.

The interior wasn’t much better. The sleek white 80s-style kitchen was completely out of place with the style of the house, and worse, it simply covered up the dilapidated infrastructure.

After stabilizing the house and its systems (all new wiring, plumbing, HVAC, and insulation were installed), the 80s kitchen was replaced with a period design. The original cast iron stove was carefully restored to become the focal point of the new-age kitchen.

“Details like the original stove tell the story of that particular house, and preserving and restoring it was a way to honor the house and allow the homeowners to feel connected to the past.”

This philosophy carried on in other ways, too. The original pantry was restored using materials salvaged from the house itself. The back staircase was reconfigured to better suit its new use while carefully matching the original details. The spacious, stately ballroom was given new wiring, plaster, lighting, and media systems, as well as custom millwork and restoration of its original decorative plaster ceiling.

The result is a house rich in historic character and character while providing the owners with the benefits of modern systems and bringing a piece of an almost lost past to the community.